ASH Daily News 8 August 2017

Australia: Research sheds new light on why smoking in pregnancy is harmful

Australia: Solution to cigarette butt waste proposed

UK

David Cameron pictured smoking

In a picture from last weekend’s Wilderness Festival in Oxfordshire, Mr Cameron was photographed holding a cigarette. Back in 2011, Mr Cameron described himself as a “former smoker” at Prime Minister’s Questions when responding to a question about a ban on smoking in cars when children were present. Four years later, he spoke in the Commons about his “relatively successful” battle to give up smoking.

Two years on, it seems Mr Cameron has turned to tobacco once again, highlighting the difficulties of quitting smoking.

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of charity ASH (Action on Smoking and Health), said: “Quitting smoking can be difficult but getting the right support throughout the process makes quit attempts much more likely to succeed. It’s vital that smoking cessation services are properly funded and available to all who need them, whether plumber or former prime minister.”

Australia: Research sheds new light on why smoking in pregnancy is harmful

Several human studies have indicated that maternal smoking is associated with lung under-development, airflow limitation, an increase in the risk of respiratory infections and, development of airway hypersensitivity and asthma.

Research led by scientists at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) has identified oxidative stress as the major mechanism by which developing offspring are harmed when pregnant women smoke.

Associate Professor Brian Oliver, an expert in respiratory disease from the UTS Faculty of Science, highlighted that a smoker inhales additional toxic chemicals and billions of free radicals [oxidants] which enter the blood stream and affect the whole body. Associate Professor Oliver said free radicals – for example, molecules such as hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) – are highly reactive and can chemically change body tissues (similar to bleaching). “For pregnant women, the response to these chemicals extends to the developing child,” he said.

Trillions of cigarette butts are produced every year worldwide, with most discarded into the environment. They take years to break down while their toxic chemical load is released into creeks, rivers and the ocean.

Now a team at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, has demonstrated that butts could be incorporated into asphalt, which could prevent toxic chemicals leaching from the cigarette butts and improve asphalt’s performance as a construction material.

About 6 trillion cigarettes are produced every year, leading to more than 1.2 million tonnes of cigarette butt waste. These figures are expected to increase by more than 50% by 2025, mainly due to an increase in world population

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